Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - XXIV. Revolution
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
470
REVOLUTION [chap. xxiv.
side by side with clever and tenacious modern
propaganda had fixed in Western mentality the picture of a
Russia in which absolute and despotic power, an
aristocracy of the Court, a class of employes who were
all concessionaries, uneducated clergy, all weighed on
the existence of the country, oppressing, exploiting,
purposely brutalising the people in town and country,
persecuting and exiling to the frozen deserts of Siberia
all people whose hearts were in the right place, above
all, those young people who dreamt of better conditions
for their country. " Tsarism" was the monster against
which all upright consciences ought to revolt, against
which loud appeals were made to the whole of European
public opinion. And yet within the last few years, first
France, then England and finally, since the war, Italy
and Belgium, had concluded a close alliance with this
same Tsarist Russia, with this same criminal
Government. In the columns of one and the same newspaper
one could read flattery addressed to the Tsar,
imprecations against the governmental system of Russia,
dithyrambs on the might of the allied Empire and
lamentations over the fate of the victims to its odious
regime. The public conscience of the West must in
the long run have felt the anomaly, I would even say
the indignity, of such proceedings. The Russian
Revolution occurred in the nick of time to set
everything right: Russia, so absolutely indispensable to the
welfare of Europe, had herself thrown off her fetters ;
there was no longer any need to use humiliating
circumspection towards a thoroughly detested regime ;
one remained closely bound to the Russian people and
all the more loyal to the principles and aspirations of
liberty and integral democracy. Truly a considerable
relief to one’s conscience !
Then it must be borne in mind that during the
few months preceding the Revolution, skilfully
circulated rumours represented the existing regime as
won over to German influence and striving for peace.
The tremendous mistakes of the Government, the
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
